Since joining the NCAA in 1981, Ohio State women's basketball has produced its fair share of stars, most who became famous for their play on the court, and one whose nearly 40-year radio career makes her well known among the OSU women's hoops community.
Here's a look at the brightest stars:
Ohio State women's basketball has star power sitting right on its bench. Katie Smith is an assistant coach for the Buckeyes , but her claim to fame came years earlier when the native of Logan, Ohio, led OSU to the 1993 NCAA Tournament championship game as a freshman.
The 5-foot-11 shooting guard averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists over her college career, breaking the Big Ten scoring record along the way, then won two ABL titles with the Columbus Quest before joining the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA in 1999.
Smith won two WNBA titles and was named MVP of the 2008 WNBA Finals. She retired after the 2013 season, having averaged 13.9 points over her 14-season WNBA career and becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of women's professional basketball.
After retiring as a player, Smith spent four years as a WNBA assistant coach before becoming head coach of the New York Liberty in 2018-19.
Ohio State's all-time leading scorer , men or women, began her career with a bang, finishing her freshman season with the highest scoring average (24.9) in the nation. Her 873 points ranked second most for a freshman in NCAA history.
The Cincinnati Princeton graduate went on to average 26.1 points as a sophomore, 22.6 as a junior and 24.3 as a senior, finished her collegiate career with a 24.5 scoring average and what then was the second most points in NCAA history.
Drafted second overall by the Indiana Fever , Mitchell has averaged 17.4 points a game over her eight-year WNBA career.
The only Big Ten player to win conference MVP four consecutive seasons, the 6-5 center was a force down low for the Buckeyes , averaging 20.7 points and 10.5 rebounds over her career.
The Cleveland native was drafted fifth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, highlighting her 11-year professional career in 2015 by averaging 14.5 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and gaining an All-Star appearance. A year later she was named WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, helping Los Angeles win the league championship.
She retired in 2022 having averaged 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Fame has many faces, but the face − or at least voice − of the Huron, Ohio, native has been recognizable to Ohio State fans since 1987, when Watt traded her hightops for a microphone. Nearly 40 years later and the former OSU forward still works as a radio analyst for OSU women's basketball.
Watt played in 78 games for the Buckeyes from 1981-85 and helped lead the Buckeyes to three Big Ten championships and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982. She began calling games while attending law school and is now the leader of the environmental law group at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at @rollerCD .
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State women's basketball most famous alumni includes Katie Smith
